Hard News: #eqnz: Okay?
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http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/126265-research-shows-fault-has-issue.html
After a short sharp geology lesson at night school last month with rock god Bruce Hayward we were made aware of the Firth of Thames fault. The class questioned why the complacency in Auckland about a big quake here. It simply comes down to the Civil Defence advice coming from volcanologists and not seismologists.
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Rosemary, if Significant Other is in bed when earthquake starts, he'd be best just to stay there and cover his head.
If he's up and about and in wheelchair, he's probably best to put the brake on so he doesn't move around too much and just stay put and cover his head as best he can. Have you got your tall furniture well secured?
The lovely Beck Eleven describes how running around during the Feb 2011 quake got her a nasty injury: If you can keep calm during a quake, that's good. I ran during the February one and the buckling flipped me headfirst into a wall. That was my neck stuffed for almost a year. -
Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
Email
You beat me to posting Beck Eleven's piece....
Unfortunately, that sense of humour is a fair way down the aftershock timeline. It will emerge after a lot of forlorn swearing while you clean up the mess that Mother Nature made. One day you will learn that Blu Tack is a friend to ornaments. Or, eventually, that ornaments are not your friend at all.
I can promise though, that friends and neighbours count for everything at this time. One day you will laugh about digging your own toilet in your back yard.
S O and me were abed the other night when the Waikato decided to party with the rest of the country. He was snoring, me just nodding off and thinking this "falling dream thing" is going on a bit too long....wtf ???
Just as I was deciding that maybe I'd better drag him out of bed and onto the floor under the bed, the wobble stopped. The water in our concrete tanks didn't stop sloshing for about five minutes. There was clearly some wave amplification shit going on, not only in each tank...but we could hear the water being pushed through the pipe connecting the two tanks....and water was being pushed back up the inlet pipe and creating little gurgles in the down pipes. All very interesting.
However....back to our contingency planning....Living most of the time in a seven metre housebus, often parked up in remote places with no cellphone coverage and usually by the ocean, we are constantly doing risk analysis. We are not risk averse, and we will be found going to and staying in areas that other travelers (without the tetraplegic issues) avoid. But we do take a few moments to identify possible risks, ensure we have an escape route and we always make sure we have enough water, food and required paraphernalia for managing tetraplegia in case we are stuck for longer than we planned. Our lives are all about identifying and managing/mitigating risk ,and also all about being fit and well enough to get 'out wide' and taking a few risks.
In the Bus....our equivalent of 'tall furniture' would be the pots, pans, cutlery and the like in our overhead cupboards. I have, on occasion, after parking the Bus with her bum into the howling gale, removed the heavier kitchen equipment and stowed them where they won't land on us should the wind change and we get blown over. (I have also sat behind the steering wheel with the engine running ready to bolt (but to god knows where!) should the constantly shifting hurricane force wind get worse. Truly frightening, was that night.)
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Amazing. All power to you and SO and your bus. Have you got any means of communication other than cellphones?
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So this is an actual supper lunar thing. Today’s flooding! It dissipated as the tide went out.
And as much as I like danger, it got a bit sick making while wading around taking photos today. This substation was producing very unnatural noises.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Email
This substation was producing very unnatural noises.
Is that the substation near Paekakariki?
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Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
Email
Again...we plan. (and don't we hate doing that...but needs must.)
We generally let someone know where we will be for the night....or the week or so...if we are parking up in a remote place, or a remote place where there is the possibility of having unwanted visitors. Message is often along the lines of "If you don't hear from us by X date, our rotting, stinking corpses can be found here". Of course, they are going to suck all the fun out from that particular site as the plan is to upgrade the cellphone coverage at the Cape...so we may just get cover down at the camp.
I jest....better cellphone reception in the more remote parts of the motu makes sense. Some of these areas are on the 'must do' list for our overseas travelers. Some of the roads into these areas require driving skills beyond that of many of our younger visitors. Mistakes happen, and getting help when finding cellphone cover requires local knowledge can be problematic.
We were at that particular camp when the Te_Araroa_earthquake struck in September. It woke me up. Automatically, I put on the radio,...RNZ...and had the pleasure (under the guise of performing a public service) of going around and waking the other campers and informing them of the tsunami warning.
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Just got an email from the high school about the road blockages here around Wellington. There are children at school ( not ours ) that will be stuck north of Paekakariki. The options offered for the school children was to ether stay at a friends house or at the marae.
“The marae”, that’s now mainstream - the recomended safe place, when nature gets all hoha.
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Email
Whew! Thank god!!!!
It was very near the end of all things...
"It's done." "Yes, Mr Frodo, it's over now."
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steven crawford, in reply to
Is that the substation near Paekakariki?
This one is at Pautahanui, which is right across the road from Transmition gully HQ.
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izogi, in reply to
Readers of BBC News, the Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald will also be very relieved.
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The take- home from this event is slowly sinking in now that we are up and running sort of . . . viz. that had this been the big one - the 8.5 + Richter on the Alpine Fault - the country is totally unprepared, and within a week or so chaos would have ensued.
And this is from someone engaged in "sustainable " agriculture ! Ha!
Sure , we could have continued food production for a month, but after that it was going to be paleo diet for everybody.Here we have backup generation, and backup generators for the backup generators. We also have solar but that is barely useful in the Big One.
The fact is that when the diesel runs out we are down to coal while we cut down the trees and wait for them to be dry enough to burn. Then we could get maybe a year or so of continuity, if everything else was working which it would not be .
Just imagine a few hydro dams are damaged, or the Cook Strait links.
Throw in the administrative incompetence at every level . . . it's quite a disturbing picture.
Genesis Energy made it virtually impossible to report faults . . . they would not log faults. There were pole fuses and transformer fuses blown all over the Manawatu , as a result of power lines touching. The lines company could not fix them because they did not know where they were . . . it was random . . . and the customers were not permitted to tell them ... far canal :-)
We eventually crashed through the walls that Genesis had erected, and got a transformer fuse replaced (a 5 minute job) 30 hours after it blew and took out 4 ICPs, including the cowshed and the main farm water supply as well as all the comms. (which were already down because underground phone lines were ripped) and two other locations on the same transformer.
There is no fibre here , even though we are in P.N. city and internet is copper wire. If the cell phone towers had generators but diesel was unavailable, then we were down to our two -way handsets for as long as we could recharge batteries. After that shouting would be necessary.
Not even worth thinking about the cities.
The country definitely dodged a bullet this time . Next time . . . ? -
william blake, in reply to
From generation zero to generation backup.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Email
The take- home from this event is slowly sinking in now that we are up and running sort of . . . viz. that had this been the big one – the 8.5 + Richter on the Alpine Fault – the country is totally unprepared, and within a week or so chaos would have ensued.
.... Here we have backup generation, and backup generators for the backup generators. We also have solar but that is barely useful in the Big One.As these ‘off the grid’ eco- tourist lodge owners have found, preparation is only part of the equation…
OFF THE GRID – LITERALLY
Niky McArthur was on the verge of tears as she talked about the state of her ecotourism business, Kaikoura Wilderness, which is located in a remote valley north of Kaikoura.
“I always thought that whatever was happening in the world we’d be self sufficient up there,” she said.
Monday morning’s earthquake had crippled the “off the grid” Puhi Puhi Rd business, which offered accommodation and guided walks.
Battery banks powering the lodge were destroyed, gas bottles tipped over and water tanks cracked.
The road to the site was impassable and likely would be for many months.
“I’m not sure if I’m going to cry or not. I’m quite shell-shocked. We won’t be able to run a business for [at least] six months. It’s going to have a devastating effect.”(my bolding)
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Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
Email
Throw in the administrative incompetence at every level . . . it’s quite a disturbing picture.
The cynic in me thinks that perhaps this is part of the Plan.
We are being taught not to rely on The Administration to provide support.
We are being 'encouraged' (read forced) to stand on our own individual or collective feet.
Its all about 'building resilience', a term that pops up in many forums these days.
This might be a good Plan....community level post disaster actions are often very good....until, of course, The Administration steps in, takes control, fails to respect the locals, stuffs up, and ultimately magnifies the stress and frustration.
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Farmer Green, in reply to
.community level post disaster actions
That was funny but absolutely true. Most will not have received this "news" :-
PEL (that is your Countdown supermarket)
"An update on our current closures is below. The biggest impact for you however is likely to be that our Palmerston North Distribution Centre will be closed for much of this week, with orders being diverted to our Auckland distribution centres. We are doing everything we can to get stock to affected parts of the country, including from our Distribution Centre in Christchurch. There may be some delays, but at the moment we are able to get deliveries into all affected areas. We will continue to update our customers and teams."Centralisation . . of almost anything . . . is a disaster.
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Farmer Green, in reply to
We are being taught not to rely on The Administration to provide support.
I found that it was quite empowering to be informed by the Genesis faultline operator that the reason that they didn't want to hear about our fault was that we were not a priority.
I thanked her for her honesty (I hope that she wasn't being monitored) and for the clarity, and got on with the job.I mean , who needs food anyway?
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Compass, who truck frozen meals, and meal components to Dunedin from Auckland, to supply the hospital meals, and meals on wheels, tell us it's all under control. Until last year, meals were prepared in the hospital kitchen. Does something sound out of whack?
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Farmer Green, in reply to
with orders being diverted to our Auckland distribution centres
Yep , ship the yoghurt from P.N. to Auckland , so that it can be "distributed" to P.N.
Makes sense to me.
Luckily we here at Biofarm are prohibited from using the P.N. warehouse, because we are so norty . . . -
Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Email
wipe out?
I mean , who needs food anyway?
Not to mention toilet paper, now most folk get their news online, there'll be no stack of old newspapers. or old sewing patterns for that matter, to repurpose for loo paper... books it is then...
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Email
Compass, who truck frozen meals, and meal components to Dunedin from Auckland, to supply the hospital meals, and meals on wheels
That was always a bad idea on so many levels.
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And a Good morning from TOLL Freight Forwarding (backwarding , surely)
"Good morning
The flooding disrupted our plans for our truck, we were booked for the 8pm ferry sailing, but due to the flooding was unable to get to Wellington. He continued as the roads cleared & was rebooked on the 4am sailing.
This freight will be in Christchurch & available for delivery tomorrow. "
I have no idea whether or not the ECOFARM milk made it to CHCH this week.
Anyone know? -
Farmer Green, in reply to
I always liked that doggerel on the back of the dunny in Herries Park in Te Aroha.
“If no paper
Do not linger
Robinson Crusoe
Used his finger."It’s a bastard when there’s no water.
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Important Post Earthquake Update from Big Chill Distribution
Dear Valued Customer,
As a result of the traumatic events in the Upper South Island and Wellington this week, you will be aware that the transport infrastructure within New Zealand has been severely damaged. Unfortunately it will continue to be impaired well into 2017.
Eat Local folks :-)
You don't want to hear about the Earthquake surcharge , on top of the Fuel surcharge (which ALWAYS applies).
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In Destiny Church news, Brian Tamaki blames the earthquakes on gays, sinners, and murderers. I guess they must have all jumped up and down at the same time. Whoever would have known that Kaikoura was such a hotbed of murderous, homosexual imperfection.
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